TRANSPORTATION: ROAD, AIR, WATER, RAIL, IMPORTANCE, FORMS

Transportation is one of the aids to trade and branches of commerce which is a means whereby people and goods are moved from one place to another either through water, road, rail or air.

IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORT

Movement of goods and persons: transportation facilitates quick and efficient distribution of goods, in a country.
It encourages trade between one country to another.
It improves standard of living: improved standard of living by making goods and services available at the right time and right place and thus improve the standard of living of the people.
Employment opportunity: it provides employment opportunities for people there by enabling them to earn a living.
Widering of firm’s market: transportation and tends a firm’s market for the sales of goods and services.
Encouragement of international trade: the development of transport by air and sea is greatly promoted and encourage trading activities between one country and another.
Prevention of wastage of perishable goods: a good and efficient transport system will ensure quick distribution of perisheable goods to areas where they are needed and therefore prevents wastage.
Movement of productive resources: a goods transport system will help in moving productive resources firm areas where they are available can be put to adequate use.

FORMS OF TRANSPORTATION

There are four major forms of transport namely:

LAND TRANSPORTATION

This is a movement of people and goods on land form one place to another. It is the commonest means of transport and mainly used in home trade. There are two methods of transportation by land. They are:

Road transportation
Rail transportation.
ROAD TRANSPORTATION: is the commonest means of transportation which links towns and villages in Nigeria. The means used to aid transportation or road are bicycles, cars, lorries, tankers, motorcycle, buses, trailers etc.

ADVANTAGES OF ROAD TRANSPORTATION

It is possible to reach all parts of the country by road.
It is a suitable means of transport for carrying perishable goods.
It does not require special routes like trains.

DISADVANTAGES OF ROAD TRANSPORTATION

They are usually traffic congestion{hold up}.
Road transport tends to be slow in long distance.
The rate at which account occur in road transport in high.

TRANSPORT BY RAIL

This is the second in the series of land transportation system.
Trains move on rails i.e. it has specially made routes where it operates.
This types of transport is very slow but not as risk and dangerous as the road transport.
Transport by rail in Nigeria is a federal concern under the monopoly of the Nigeria railway corporation {NRC}
The transport are divided into passenger train. first, second and third classes and cargoes trains that carry goods.